Courses tagged with "Business" (23)

Explore what it means to be human today by studying what it meant to be a hero in ancient Greek times.

In this introduction to ancient Greek culture and literature, learners will experience, in English translation, some of the most beautiful works of ancient Greek literature and song-making spanning over a thousand years from the 8th century BCE through the 3rd century CE: the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey; tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; songs of Sappho and Pindar; dialogues of Plato, and On Heroes by Philostratus. All of the resources are free and designed to be equally accessible and transformative for a wide audience.

You will gain access to a supportive learning community led by Professor Gregory Nagy and his Board of Readers, who model techniques for “reading out” of ancient texts. This approach allows readers with little or even no experience in the subject matter to begin seeing this literature as an exquisite, perfected system of communication.

No previous knowledge of Greek history, literature, or language is required. This is a project for students of any age, culture, and geographic location, and its profoundly humanistic message can be easily received without previous acquaintance with Western Classical literature.

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Looking to get started with computer science while learning to program in Python?

This computer science  course provides an introduction to computer science that’s both challenging and fun. It takes a broad look at the field of computer science through a variety of demonstrations and projects. We’ll cover both low- and high-level concepts, from how the circuits inside a computer represent data to how to design algorithms, as well as how all of this information affects the technology we use today. Additionally, we’ll teach the basics of Python programming, giving us a a way to put our new CS knowledge into practice.

No need to know any programming before starting the course; we’ll teach everything you need to know along the way. All you need to start is a good grasp of algebra, and you can fall in love with both the concepts and the practice of computer science.

China’s past, present, and future: through history, geography, philosophies, literature, politics, economy, art, and ecology.

In this course, students analyze some of the hardest national security challenges the United States will face in the decade ahead.

Learn how philosophy, art, literature, and history shaped the last century and the world today.

Learn how to identify effective nonprofit organizations and apply course concepts by awarding grants to student-nominated nonprofits.

学习运用计算思维分析社会学、经济学问题的方法，加深对某些生活现象的理解，体会计算与社会科学的互动。

Alexander the Great conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks, fused the eastern and western peoples of his empire, and became a god – before his 33rd birthday. This course explores the life, leadership, and legacies of history’s warrior, and one of its most controversial leaders, an ambiguous genius whose story helps us to understand not only the history of warfare, but also different ideas about human sexuality, the history of relations between east and west, and the religious beliefs both of ancient polytheists and modern monotheists.

Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

How can we get people to save more money, eat healthy foods, engage in healthy behaviors, and make better choices in general? There has been a lot written about the fact that human beings do not process information and make decisions in an optimal fashion. This course builds on much of the fascinating work in the area of behavioral economics and allows learners to develop a hands-on approach by understanding its methods and more importantly, how it can be harnessed by suitably designing contexts to “nudge” choice.

In three modules, learners will be able to a). explain and interpret the principles underlying decision-making and compare the nudging approach to other methods of behavior change, b). learn how to critique, design and interpret the results of experiments; and c). design nudges and decision-tools to help people make better decisions.

Understanding experimental design and interpretation is central to your ability to truly use behavioral economics and will set you apart from people who merely know about the behavioral research. After the first two weeks learning the basic principles, we will devote two weeks to studying experimental design and analysis, and the final two weeks to understanding processes for designing nudges and for helping people make better decisions.

You will also witness and participate in weekly topical debates on various topics like “does irrationality impact welfare?” or “what strategy is better for improving welfare – nudging or education?” If you’ve been fascinated with the buzz surrounding behavioral economics but are not sure how to actually use it, this course is for you.

Several leading scholars, policy makers, business people, authors and commentators will briefly join our debate and discussion sections. These guest lecturers include Professor Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard University), Professor John Lynch (University of Colorado), Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy Group), Owain Service (Behavioural Insights Team, UK Cabinet Office), Shankar Vedantam (NPR Columnist and Author – The Hidden Brain), Professors Andrew Ching, Avi Goldfarb, Nina Mazar, and Claire Tsai, Min Zhao (University of Toronto) and many others!

Who are the winners and losers of globalization? What should be done to improve outcomes for all?

This course will examine how the spread of trade, investment, and technology across borders affects firms, workers, and communities in developed and developing countries. It investigates who gains from globalization and who is hurt or disadvantaged by globalization. Global experts from public and private sectors share insights on current trends and challenges. Course participants will develop their global acumen and will learn about issues faced by leaders in today’s international business and public policy environment.  

Globalization is a fascinating spectacle that can be understood as global systems of competition and connectivity. These man-made systems provide transport, communication, governance, and entertainment on a global scale. International crime networks are outgrowths of the same systems. Topics include national identity, language diversity, the global labor market, popular culture, sports and climate change.

However, an increase in integration has not brought increased equality. Globalization creates winners and losers among countries and global corporations, making competition the beating heart of the globalization process.

The globalization process exemplifies connectivity. Globalization is unimaginable without the unprecedented electronic networks that project dominant cultural products into every society on earth.

Learn how to identify and analyze global systems and better understand how the world works.

Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

Course videos are presented in Mandarin with English subtitles.

China's architectural history spans thousands of years. In this course, we will explore the ancient cities of Chang'an of Han, Luoyang of Northern Wei, Chang'an and Luoyang of Sui and Tang, Kaifeng of Song and Dadu of Yuan, and delve into the history of the awe-inspiring ancient buildings that still grace the landscape of these bustling cities. The course will cover construction and aesthetics of these imperial palaces, religious structures, pagodas, tombs and gardens. We will study the basis of Chinese architecture, the wood framed building, as well as the brick and stone construction of many Buddhist pagodas and tombs. The course will culminate in an examination of the Summer Palace in Beijing, the ancient royal garden at the Chengde Mountain Resort, and the private gardens of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Two seminal textbooks on the Song and Qing dynasties are included in the course in electronic form.

关于本课程

数千年的中国历史上，曾出现了很多伟大的城市，汉长安、北魏洛阳、隋唐长安和洛阳、北宋开封、元大都，都是当时世界上最繁华的大都市。这些城市虽已星光黯淡，却留下了一座座优美壮丽的建筑杰作，令人叹为观止。中国的宫殿、宗教建筑、佛塔、陵寝和园林等建筑类型，无论建造技术还是美学追求，都达到了很高的水平。中国古代的建筑有着自成体系的一套营造方法，以木结构为主，也有不少砖石结构的佛塔和陵寝。历史上建造了大量宫殿建筑，北京故宫是现存世界上最大宫殿建筑群。自南北朝至唐，出现了大批佛教寺院与石窟寺。南北朝以来各地建造的砖石塔，也使中国砖石建筑达到很高水平。唐、辽、宋、金时期留下了一大批宗教建筑遗存，包括大型殿堂，多层楼阁，与高度达67米的高层木塔。明清时期坛壝、祠庙、陵墓与民居，有了高度发展，北京天坛，曲阜孔庙、明十三陵，北京四合院等，是这一时期重要建筑实例。北京颐和园、承德避暑山庄是古代皇家园林代表，明清私家园林则是数千年中国园林艺术的结晶。宋《营造法式》和清《工部工程做法则例》是中国官式建筑两部重要文本，对于理解中国建筑有着重要的意义。课程资料中也将包括这两部著作的电子版。    

Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

How do we understand architecture? One way of answering this question is by looking through the lens of history, beginning with First Societies and extending to the 16th century. This course in architectural history is not intended as a linear narrative, but rather aims to provide a more global view, by focusing on different architectural "moments."

How did the introduction of iron in the ninth century BCE impact regional politics and the development of architecture? How did new religious formations, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, produce new architectural understandings? What were the architectural consequences of the changing political landscape in northern Italy in the 14th century? How did rock-cut architecture move across space and time from West Asia to India to Africa? How did the emergence of corn impact the rise of religious and temple construction in Mexico?

Each lecture analyzes a particular architectural transformation arising from a dynamic cultural situation. Material covered in lectures will be supplemented by readings from the textbook A Global History of Architecture.

Join us on a journey around the globe and learn how architecture has developed and interacted with the world’s culture, religion, and history.

3.086x: The Iterative Innovation Process draws heavily upon the course material used in 3.086x: Innovation and Commercialization. Though there have been significant changes to the course, this course is not an entirely new edX offering.

People innovate, not organizations. This course is for anybody who wants to understand the innovation process - whether you want to foster innovation within your organization or whether you want to personally innovate.

As practicing innovators, we teach you the fundamentals of how to think like an innovator. Innovation is an iterative process, not a linear one. When innovating, there are thousands of sources of uncertainty in Technology, Implementation, and Markets. We teach you how to cycle through these sources of uncertainty until the right pieces come together in an innovation.

Throughout the course, we build up the innovation process model step by step with real examples and exercises. The goal of this course is to change and refine the way you view the innovation process, providing you with the foundation on which to build your future innovation

As contemporary humans, we are a product of our evolutionary past. That past can be directly observed through the study of the human fossil record, the materials preserved for archaeological study, and the DNA of living and extinct human populations. This course will provide an overview of human evolutionary history from the present--contemporary human variation in a comparative context--through our last common ancestor with the living great apes, some 5-7 million years in the past. Emphasis will be placed on major evolutionary changes in the development of humans and the methodological approaches used by paleoanthropologists and related investigators to develop that knowledge.

The course will begin by asking basic questions about how evolution operates to shape biological variation and what patterns of variation look like in living humans and apes. We will then look at how the human lineage first began to differentiate from apes, the rise and fall of the Australopithecines, the origin and dispersal of the genus Homo, and eventually the radical evolutionary changes associated with the development of agricultural practices in the past 15,000 years. Throughout the course students will be exposed to the primary data, places and theories that shape our understanding of human evolution.

Ever wondered why some countries are rich and others poor? Or why some people believe hard work results in upward mobility and others don’t? To answer these questions, you need to “see” the world sociologically.

In this introductory sociology course, we will explore the concerns of an interconnected global world through classic sociological concepts. Through short lectures, interviews with prominent sociologists and everyday people around the world, you will learn to see your role in the scope of global history.

No previous experience needed.

Image: Ganesh Ramachandran | www.purpleganesh.com

Chinese archaeology is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting fields of study in China. With a wealth of cultural relics unearthed this past century, the world’s fascination with China’s rich history has been renewed. This course will examine the unique cultural relics identified by scholars as important to Chinese civilization. We will focus on the fields of agriculture, astronomy, music, metallurgy, textiles, architecture, painted pottery, jade articles, bronze ware, shipbuilding and acupuncture. We will ignite your curiosity as we explore how these treasures reveal China’s past, and guide the future of Chinese culture.

考古学在中国是发展最快且最令人兴奋的研究领域之一。在上个世纪，中国凭借丰富的文物出土，让世界在此沉迷在其悠久的历史之中。本课程将探讨被学者认定为对中国文明有着重要意义的独特文物。我们将专注于农业、天文、音乐、冶金、纺织、建筑、彩陶、玉器、青铜器、造船和针灸等领域。通过探索这些珍品是如何揭示中国的过去，并引导中国文化的未来，我们将点燃你的好奇心。

FAQ

I don’t speak Chinese, can I learn the course? 

Only the spoken language is Chinese. All the other materials are in English. There are many ways of learning this wonderful course for learners without Chinese background.

• Use the English subtitles, which are provided with the video player of the course webpage.
• Download the mp4 files and subtitles and use your favorite video player to watch the video.
• Download the dubbing mp3 files. When playing the video in the course webpage, turn off the volume in the video player of the course webpage and play the mp3 files with your favorite player at the same time with proper volume. The dubbing mp3 files are synchronized with the mp4 files. It’s almost the same feeling watching a foreign movie with the English dubbing.

This course is presented in Mandarin.

《世界文化地理》是介绍世界文化地理的格局、形成、发展过程，培养学 生用地理学的眼光去观察和分析世界上文化现象的发生、发展与空间分布特点。 《世界文化地理》是北京大学最受本科生同学欢迎的通选课之一。课程内容信息量很大，包罗万象，把世界地理同世界历史、文化、艺术等融合在一起。任课教师带 领学生用地理空间的观点、时间变化的角度，去观察和分析世界上的文化现象。课程内容兼具科学性和趣味性，每年吸引了大量学生选课。  《世界文化地理》具体内容包括：世界文化地理的基本研究方法，世界文化区的划分，世界人口分布与人口迁移，农业的起源、传播与区域差异，城市的起源与扩 散，城市形态的区域差异与特点，世界主要语言、宗教、人种的空间分布及其相互关系，地理大发现与世界殖民体系的形成，世界地缘政治与世界地理系统的空间结 构特点，全球经济议题化、城市化现象及其伴随的政治、经济、社会问题，等等。  《世界文化地理》的授课内容兼及自然地理和文化地理两大方面，课程综合吸收国内外相关的最新教材和研究论著的内容，采取地图、照片、图表等表现形式，力图 生动浅显地展示世界文化地理格局的基本空间差异和变化过程，注意专题介绍与综合分析相结合，空间差异分析与世界变化分析相结合，重视培养大学生的两种能 力：运用地理学的、空间的眼光来观察、分析世界上文化现象的能力和从时间的角度来看待世界上文化现象发展变化过程的能力。  课程有期中和期末两次考试，最终有期末成绩。

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Cultural Geography of the World is one of the most popular undergraduate courses at Peking University. It is an inclusive, general introductory course, combining natural and cultural geography with history and art. Through the lens of humanism and independent thinking, learners will be encouraged to observe and analyze cultural phenomena from spatial and time perspectives. This course has 12 chapters: The basic research method of world cultural geography; The division of world culture areas; The world's population distribution and migration of population; Origin of agriculture; Diffusion and regional differences; The origin and spread of the city; Regional differences and characteristics of urban morphology; The spatial distribution of the major languages, religions, ethnicities in the world and their relationship; The great geographical discovery and the formation of the world colonial system; World geopolitics and the spatial structures of the world geography system; Global economic integration; Urbanization and its political, economic, social impacts. Using relevant domestic and foreign textbooks, publications, maps, photos, and charts to show the difference and the changing progress of spatial patterns of the cultures, learners will be asked to observe and analyze cultural phenomena with geographic and spatial vision and to consider the development and changing process of the cultural phenomena in light of time sequence. The course will include a midterm and final exam.

The course is one of the PKU-DeTao MOOCs, which is a joint effort by Peking University and DeTao Masters Academy.

This course is presented in both English and Hindi. Videos will feature Hindi subtitles.

This course offers an overview of contemporary India and explores its role as one of the dominant economic and military powers of Asia. We begin with a discussion on India as a multilingual society.  The entire course will be available in both English and Hindi.

The central focus of the course is an examination of contemporary issues in India. This includes perspectives on how Indian culture and language are being affected by the boom in technology; sections on politics and nationalism; economics and the implications of recent moves toward liberalisation of the economy; and security, international relations, and regionalism. In addition, we will examine India’s role in South Asian politics and current issues relating to its regional neighbours in Asia. The aim of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of India in order that they may better understand its role in the world.

यह पाठ्यक्रम हमें आधुनिक भारत के बारे में एक संक्षिप्त विवरण देता है। और उसके साथ यह भी दर्शाता है कि किस तरह से भारत आज एशिया का एक प्रभावशाली आर्थिक और सैन्य सत्ता बन गया है। इस पाठ्यक्रम की शुरुआत हम भारत के बहुभाषी समाज पर चर्चा से करेंगे।   

यह पाठ्यक्रम हिन्दी और अंग्रेज़ी दोनों भाषाओं में उपलब्ध होगा।

इस पाठ्यक्रम का केंद्र बिन्दू भारत के समकालीन मुद्दों का विश्लेषण करना है। इस में भिन्न-भिन्न दृष्टिकोणों से विचार प्रस्तुत किये जायेंगे कि भारतीय संस्कृतियाँ और भाषाएँ किस तरह से टेक्नोलोजी में आई तेज़ी से प्रभावित हुईं हैं। इसके अलावा हम इन विषयों के बारे में बातचीत करेंगे: राजनीति और राष्ट्रवाद, अर्थशास्त्र और अर्थव्यवस्था के उदारीकरण से हुये परिवर्तन का असर, सुरक्षा, भारत की विदेश नीति और क्षेत्रवाद। इन सब के साथ हम यह भी देखेंगे कि दक्षिण एशिया की राजनीति में भारत ने क्या भूमिका निभाई है और उसके पड़ोसी देशों के संबंध में विचार करेंगे। इस पाठ्यक्रम का उद्देश्य है विद्यार्थियों को भारत के बारे में विस्तृत जानकारी देना ताकि वे ज़्यादा अच्छी तरह से भारत और विश्व में भारत की भूमिका को समझ सकें।

Terrorism has gone from a persistent yet marginal security concern to one of the most important security problems of our day. There are few countries that do not suffer from some form of terrorism. Though many attempts at terrorism fail, some groups wage lengthy and bloody campaigns and, in exceptional cases, kill hundreds or even thousands in pursuit of their ends.

This course on terrorism will explore the nuances involved in defining terrorism, the nature of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other important groups, the effectiveness of different counterterrorism tools, terrorist recruiting, counterterrorism and the rule of law, the political context in the Middle East, and the terrorist use of technology.

For those interested in a more extended version of the course, the full 7-section course Terrorism and Counterterrorism is available here.